Behind The Mask
by xIknowyoux
Summary: AU. He was the Avatar? Zuko - He'd finally gained his Fathers love and acceptance and with the Avatar being in Fire Lords grasp, Zuko becomes conflicted. The young teenagers are willing to find this Avatar and smash some sense into him. ONE-SHOT


**Full summary: **AU. He was the Avatar? Zuko – Prince of the Fire Nation.. He'd finally gained his Fathers love and acceptance and with the Avatar being in Fire Lords grasp, Zuko becomes conflicted. But what when other young teenagers are willing to find this Avatar and smash some sense into him.

* * *

_Air.. Water.. Earth.. Fire.._

_My Grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days, the time of peace._ _When the Avatar kept balance between Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Air Nomads and Water Tribes._ _But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked._

_Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only she could stop the ruthless fire benders. But when the world needed Avatar Kyoshi most, she vanished.._

_Some people believed that the Avatar was never reborn into the Fire Nation and that the cycle has broken, when other say the Fire Nation might have kept the new Avatar a secret to the world. Other believe Avatar Kyoshi is still alive and will return one day._

_I haven't lost hope. I still believe that no matter what happened to the Avatar, somehow he or she will return to save the world._

* * *

**Behind The Mask **_One-Shot_

* * *

Laughing. Two young siblings ran across the royal backyard not mattering the fact of servants, counselors and other highly specialized key individuals passing by. The sensation lasted for what seemed like eternity. But everyone knew that.. in the Royal Fire Nation Palace, nothing could last _forever_.

"Catch me, Azula!" A boy giggled, trying to run away from his younger sister. He had his darkened hair knotted in a high ponytail.

Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation couldn't help but grin widely with amusing at the game she and her brother were playing. She clutched her hands while running after her brother. "So sure of yourself, Zuzu?" the princess replied smugly.

Zuko, nine-year old Prince of the Fire Nation glanced one time back. His smile faded as soon as he noticed Azula playing a dirty trick on him. "Hey! What're you–"

Azula's teasing grin remained. She leaped up and swung her foot upwards. A bright red flame erupted from the princess' feet, almost setting her brothers ponytail on fire.

Zuko blinked a few times. He yelped. This certainly wasn't anything good. He had no time to think, the only voice left in his mind told him to dodge the attack before it's too late.

So he did. And as a resulted, the prince got slammed against the ground. Growling in pain.

"You cheated" Zuko replied sternly, trying to get to his feet. "no firebending in tag!"

"Hey, I'm the Princess I can make up rules If I want to" Azula replied amusingly, crossing her arms.

_Yeah right_. And I'm the Prince! Zuko thought fiercely, but didn't bother to make those words actually come out of his mouth. He had no idea what to think of Azula. She never really played fair in any sort of games the siblings played together. She always had to mess things up at the end.

But then again, she had this habit of making fun of him anyway. Of course, when their mother was with them, Azula didn't dare to speak. She'd always kept it until the moment they were alone– or when they were with Father.

_Father_.. Zuko thought sadly before turning his back to Azula and walked off without saying goodbye. He'd always admired her six-year old sister. He took an arc around the palace, still holding his saddened expression. He sighed – I wished I was stronger as well, a prodigy like my sister. Father would be proud of me as well..

Good attitude. Show no remorse. Strengthen yourself. He'd overheard his Father telling Azula that. Perhaps, he should take after those words as well.

Time for some hot-squats to start his training session. All alone. His Mother was out strolling around the city while Father, Uncle and Cousin Lu Ten were probably on some Princely duties. Or maybe his Father was training Azula..

Zuko took a pose and stretched his legs. I've got to get my blood pumping, the Prince pondered. "One hot-squat. Two hot-squats. Three hot-squats. Four hot-squats.."

After some time, he allowed himself to drop to the ground. He stretched out on the soft grass.

As the young Prince closed his eyes, he listened to the sounds around him – an average wind speed. Not too fast nor too hard. Birds were chirping in a tree a few feet away from him. He could hear croaking of the turtle ducks that were swimming in the puddle near the tree as well. Listening to the sounds around him was a good way to lay his mind at ease.

Zuko sighed.. He could be helpful too.. _If someone took the time to teach him something! _He thought agitated.

He heard sluggish footsteps.

Zuko slowly opened his eyes and devoted his attention into the direction of the 'footsteps'. _The Fire Sages.. _The long red traditional tunic the five old men were wearing was easily being recognized as Fire Sages. But what were they doing near the palace? Maybe they had so important matters to discuss about..

Well, they used to be around the palace a lot, but still.. It wasn't common for them to be around at _this_ time of the day..

Another deep sigh – whatever, he should mind his own business.

No longer after he reclosed his eyes; his mind drifted somewhere else..

_There stood a girl, right before him. Her long brown hair fluttered through the cold wind while her blue eyes connected with his bright golden. For some odd reason, she stood on water. As if she seemed to be floating, which was odd. But her expression.. that expression she carried on her face hit him in the throat._

_"Zuko.. please, listen to us" she called out, her voice was quite terrifying. "you're our only hope.. Our only hope for peace"_

_"I'm not.. M-Mind your own business you filthy peasant!" Was that his voice?_

_"No.. you're wrong. You **are **our only hope. You don't know this because.._ _the Fire Nation told you otherwise"_

Zuko quickly opened his eyes. What kind of dream was_ that_?

That is so wrong. What was that even supposed to mean? And had he really been calling someone.. filthy peasant? Was that his voice? It didn't resembled his high pitch voice. It sounded.. older, manlier. But still.. And the mere fact that he dreamt about a girl who was twice the age of what he is was.. kinda vague.

"Prince Zuko, your Grandfather has requested your presence" a servant called out bowing one last time before meeting the princes' eyes.

Zuko looked up. "Alright" he said before standing up. Not having the time wonder why the Fire Lord asked him to come, he set course toward the Throne Room.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

_'What was Azula doing here?'_ The Prince thought as his gaze set on his sister before entering the Throne Room. Azula gave him one last smirk as an reply before entering the same the siblings entered the room, the first thing they noticed was the Fire Lord, their Grandfather.. sitting on a throne at the very end of the room. Zuko, walking next to Azula, knelt before the Fire Lords throne once approaching it. Something else managed to take his attentions and the prince couldn't help to glance to his left.

_'Toys? Thousands of them..' _he wasn't used to this. The fact that Grandfather finally decided to play with toys at such an old age, or having some.. quite original decoration.. seemed to be out of place.

Unexpectedly, the five Fire Sages walked in, together with Cousin Lu Ten and Crown Prince Iroh, his Uncle. They stood before the platform.

While still in a kneeling position the two siblings looked up to meet their Grandfathers eyes.

"Grandchildren.. I've requested your attendance due to an assignment of great importance.." The Fire Lord began in a creaky voice, lowering his head as he eyed from Lu Ten to his second sons' children. "You shall choose four playable things out of that stack of toys"

Zuko blinked a few times with confusion. He eyed his sister for a moment to find her being utterly confused as well. Toys weren't her thing anyway.

He didn't asked for more information as he knew what was asked of him. Zuko rose to his feet together with her younger sister, and both devoted their attention toward the stocks of toys.

The young Prince rubbed his uncertain eyes to get a better view of things. Zuko examined the huge block of toys before them as he approached it: a wooden lion, a duck of plastic and so on.

Zuko looked over to his sister. She raised one of his dark brows as she looked through the many toys, seeing no point in searching for likable goodies.

"Father, I am not sure I'm getting the right one. Being pretty old for toys and all, I'm pretty convinced that I have grown out of these things" Lu Ten said. "besides, isn't the Avatar gone for over a hundred years?"

_The Avatar? _Zuko wondered what this had to do with that.

"Yes, my son. That is true" Iroh admitted, rubbing his beard in a slowly manner. "but, there's always a small chance for the Avatar to be actually alive. This method has not been performed on both you and your Uncle and Aunts' children. Therefore, we will try it today"

"Alright. Then I'll take these; some sort of an Fire Nation symbol a wooden tree, a reddish scarf and a wooden thing in the shape of a cup of tea"

"Haha, entirely my taste" Iroh laughed while laying his arm around his son's shoulder. He looked next to him to find Azula digging into the playthings. "and what has my niece chosen?" Iroh asked.

"This is an older version of Zuko, fighting in the war" Azula replied as she allowed herself to emerge a block of wood in the shape of a boy. "and this needs to represent a rock thrown by a Earth Kingdom soldier. It'll seizure Zuko and then he'll die" Azula replied smugly as she waves those two toys in the air.

Iroh blinked in surprise, not understanding what was so funny about it. "It's not nice to act in such a manner towards your own brother, Azula" he said sternly.

"Don't worry Uncle" Azula replied, giving him an mischievous smile. "I was just playing, I truly care about my brother"

Zuko gave her sister an evil glare before turning his attention back to the toys. _Azula was lying_.. The Prince already opted a pull-string propeller.

He noticed a fluffy turtle lying on the top of the berg. That one looked.. nice, as if it was calling him, which was weird somehow. He stepped over a lot of toys to get to the tortoise. He smiled to himself, this one looked really nice.

His eyes then gazed downwards, as if he'd immediately knew what he wanted. He noticed some sort of a orange wooden hand drum with two wires which contained balls hanging on each side.

"I'll take this one as well" he whispered to himself.

The Fire Sages indentified Prince Lu Ten's toys and shook their head with certainty. He wasn't the Avatar. Lu Ten felt as if a hard stone left his shoulders, being the Avatar wasn't his thing. Certainly not when the Avatar was a great danger to his Nation.

Iroh took an arch around Azula and headed to his little nephew. "A wooden monkey? Well, perhaps it fits you as I remember you climbing trees when you were younger, my nephew" Iroh said with a widened smile on his face, remembering the time he, his son and his nephew shared together. Zuko smiled. The Fire Sages blinked at the familiar word; wooden monkey. It was a relic from past Avatars.. they exchanged evident shocked glances at seeing the other toys Prince Zuko had chosen.

"I think they're fun" Zuko replied.

The Fire Lord, who followed each step of the children looked up once he saw the Sages' shocked expressions. "May I ask what had horrified you?" he replied sternly.

"My Lord" said one of the Fire Sages. "we need to have this interlocution with thou alone, it's utterly of great importance"

Fire Lord Azulon folded his hands together in a slow motion, seeming to be in thought. Finally, he nodded stocky with his head. "Very well. Everyone else, leave" he said.

Everyone obeyed. Zuko laid his toys quickly on the glossy hardened floor and left together with the others. He glanced one time around to see one of the Fire Sages staring at him, which made the young firebender feel uncomfortable.

"Scared?" Azula asked.

"No, why?" Zuko questioned.

"I dunno. Did you saw their faces once they saw your toys" The Princess answered mischievously.

"Yeah, so what?"

Azula frowned. "Really, haven't you been taught anything at school? Your brain is as stupid as you look like" she replied rolling her eyes, receiving a heavy glare back from Zuko. "What I meant was _– _what would you do if you were the Avatar?"

The Avatar again.. what was it with everyone today? Suddenly bringing up a subject he barely knew of. He'd only known that the Avatar was supposed to be learning all elements, that was all. Azula knew obviously more of the Avatar than he did.

Zuko shook his head. "I don't know" he replied, knowing that he'd been getting a not so appropriate reply from her sister if he'd said he didn't knew anything about it.

When the siblings arrived in the hallway, Zuko headed off towards his room for some little relaxation.

Once laying on his bed, the Prince couldn't help to think about that girl from his dream. Who was she? – did the girl exist? ..Or was it just a part of his imagination that started hallucinating weird things, because.. well, people often called him weird. Especially his sister. But whoever that was, it felt so frightening real..

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Throne Room the Fire Lord has requested the presences of all his counsel men plus his relatives. The only exceptions were his Grandchildren.

"Father, you asked us" Prince Ozai said, sitting politely at the a large table in the middle of the Throne Room where his Father, Azulon always makes his decisions and also where he formulates plans with his military and civilian advisers.

Next to Prince Ozai sat his wife, Ursa. She glanced around and was a bit confused by her sudden call. She was walking around the market when a soldier asked for her. It went by all quickly, she almost couldn't regain her breath after her quick departure.

On the other side sat Crown Prince Iroh and beside him sat the official counsel men, all waiting for the Fire Lord to speak.

Fire Lord Azulon narrowed his eyes at his second son for a brief moment, nobody could see what he was really thinking cause he always held that same expression, fierce _but _expressionless. "Yes.. as you may have known, I conducted the method whereby someone has the possibility to gather clues whetether someone is the Avatar or not" he said in a slow manner. "today we have performed this methodology on your children" looking at Ozai and Iroh.

It remained quiet, everyone listened to the words the Fire Lord spoke.

"And.. " he began, lowering his head while narrowing his eyes at Ozai. "Prince Ozai, there's a high possibility for your son to be _the _Avatar"

Before someone could express their feelings towards this sudden conformation, the Fire Lord spoke again. "Prince Zuko choose the four Avatar Relics out of the thousand toys the Fire Sages brought us"

"..What do you want me to do, Father" Ozai spoke, not understanding the possibility of his weakness of a son to be the almighty Avatar.

Azulon spoke, "It would be pointless to end Prince Zuko's life. If he'd been, a new Avatar will be born thus making the other Nations have the advantage of winning this war"

"But my Lord" One of the counsel men said, mentally disagreeing with the Fire Lord. "all the Airbenders are gone. If Prince Zuko is no more, not only won't we have him fight against our nation when he understands the meaning being an Avatar, but this means the Avatar Cycle will be broken as well"

Ursa's eyes widened. Where they just discussing on how they were going to kill her only beloved son? She wanted to protest of course, but couldn't. This wasn't her place to speak. She could only beg for her son to be spared.

"I'm well aware of that fact" Azulon agreed partly with him. "but we do not have the corroboration of the Airbenders being completely extinct. The other Nations might be hiding them. This makes them getting the advantage of winning the war if we were to be ending Prince Zuko's life"

"What do you suggest, my Lord?"

The old Fire Lords eyes were creeping quietly towards his second son. "Prince Ozai, you'll be teaching your son the way a **Fire Nation** Avatar is supposed to act .. and from now on, we will be doing it _our_ way" The Fire Lord finished.

* * *

**Three Years Later..**

* * *

**_"Who are you?"_**

_"..I'm Katara.. Who are you? Where am I?"_

**_"I don't know where we are.. not that I care"_**

_"Do you have a name?"_

**_"Of course I have. It's.. Zuko"_**

_"I think that's a nice name. But it doesn't sound all Water Tribe-ish"_

**_"I'm not from the Water Tribe anyway.. I'm Prince of the Fire Nation"_**

_"Prince of the Fire Nation? ...No, why am I talking to you? Why are you.. here"_

**_"...Guess it's an Avatar thing.. hallucinating things, again. Only this time I'm hearing voices.. your voice"_**

_"The Avatar? You're the Avatar? The Prince of the Fire Nation?"_

**_"Well, yes that's how people have been calling me lately. So what? You're Water Tribe. Father told me all Nations are weak except the Fire Nation, which is the greatest symbolization in history"_**

_"It can't be.."_

**_"Excuse me?"_**

_"If you're the Avatar – why aren't you restoring peace to the world? It's your duty as the Avatar"_

_**"My what now? My duty as the Avatar is to serve my Nation, what makes you think I should be doing such a thing?"** __ "..They never taught you, didn't they?"_

**_"What are you talking about?"_**

_"On how to be an Avatar.. they never taught you the right way, didn't they?"_

...

Ten-year old Katara opened her eyes and stumbled on her two feet before tripping over and falling on her back. She was still spacing a bit, wondering what it was that just happened. _A dream.. again._

"Katara! Are you alright?" Her eleven-year old brother said concerned. "really, you should stop doing that"

He noticed his younger sisters' expressionless face, as if she was still kinda out of it. "Hello? Someone in there?" Sokka whispered as he tapped his knuckles against Katara's forehead.

Katara jerked quickly back. "Sokka, I had a dream" she paused. "I think it was a dream.. but it felt so real"

Sokka frowned. "What about? Don't tell me it's about that guy, the _so-called_ Avatar you said you dreamt about years ago" he remembered back when his sister was about seven-years old. She had a dream about a boy from the Fire Nation, who _– _Katara stated – was the Avatar. She couldn't stop talking about the guy.

"You're too young for boys, especially the Avatar" Sokka whispered with a sickening expression. "back then and you still are"

Katara utterly blushed at this. "That's not funny, Sokka! It was real, he was real! The Avatar needs us_–_"

"The Avatar is dead" He interjected. Narrowing his eyes over to a saddened little Katara. He sighed. "Look, I want this war to be over just as much as you but the Avatar has been gone for over a hundred years. Even if he's born Fire Nation, we should have heard something about the Avatar. But we didn't"

"We do" Katara protested. "my dream. It was a sign!"

"Sure.." Sokka said unconvinced. He turned around and left the igloo the siblings were in. He waved Katara one time back before leaving. "We _really _need to get you an psychiatrist.." Sokka mumbled slowly.

Once Sokka was out of sight. Katara sat down on the colden ground of snow. It pained Katara.. nobody believed her; all telling her it was just a dream. But this was a second sign. The Avatar needs her. He's being taught wrong things.. But what could she do.. she was just a ten-year old helpless girl, though still a waterbender. Yet not a set her eyes on the burning fire in front of her, which her Grandmother created using wood and that dream from 3 years ago really connected to the one she just had? But the voice Katara remembered vague from many years ago sounded much older.. the voice she heard today sounded like a child who just stepped into his teenage years.

But that first dream she had.. she saw how he looked like, the Avatar. Probably around seventeen-years old. His hair was knotted in a traditionally Fire Nation way, with on the top a golden hair piece and wearing what seemed like royal armor. She was astonished at how much she remembered of the young man. He also had a scar on his left eye.. which, she remembered, she found scary at first. But she got used to it after some time, it was part of who he was.. although she didn't knew how he got it in the first place.

"One day, when I get older.. I want to help him.." Katara whispered slowly watching the fire dimming down. "and I will"

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Avatar Zuko passed down the many streets in Royal Caldera City, gathering himself from the whacked dream he had. If this was a side-effect of being Avatar, it sure wasn't funny. In fact; it gave him a headache.

_Stupid voices, stupid imagination. _He heard himself saying.

It had been one year.. one year since the disappearance of his Mother.. the death of his Grandfather and Cousin.. and one year since his Father took the throne. He was now official Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, Avatar Zuko. Such a long name to benefit his title, he always thought.

"Look it's the Avatar" A girl said.

"_And_ Crown Prince!" Another girl said.

Within a minute, a crowd had formed around the twelve-year old firebender. 'Oh no, why haven't I brought any guards with me..' he pondered heavily as he felt all hands of the public touching him.

Zuko saw an opening beneath one of the citizens legs and dropped himself to the ground. He allowed himself to slide below their legs, making his way through the public. Once freed, he hurried to a quiet alley and tried to regain his breath.

The Avatar could feel his heart beat harder. He really had to remind himself to bring guards next time he decided to stroll around town.

"Hey, almighty Avatar Zuzu" Ten-year old Azula said in full princess attire, having her body pressed against the bare wall of a noblemen house.

"Azula, what are you doing here?" Zuko said once recognizing the voice. He turned to the girl and glared. "stop peeking on me, it's really annoying"

"I'm not doing anything" Azula shrugged. "really, I was just looking out for you. Being Avatar _and_ Crown Prince sure is a heavy burden for you"

Zuko arced an eyebrow before replying. "So?"

"Give me your Crown Prince title and we're even" She teasingly smirked.

"Haha Azula, that's so funny" Zuko stated with evident sarcasm. "you know what? mind your own business. I still _hate _you for taking mom away" Zuko replied honestly, narrowing his eyes at his sister.

Azula face darkened. "You don't know anything about it. Mother saved my life, if you like it or not" she paused. "and I really appreciate what she did.." the young Princess added, showing a rare sight of sadness.

"Fine, whatever"

"Soo, how's training going?" Azula questioned, wanting to bring up a not-so-painful memory of hers, starting to mock her older brother like she always did with much love. "already mastered all elements? _– _wait – there are no Airbenders to learn from how stupid of me"

Zuko grunted with frustration. "Father gave me an Airbending scroll so I can learn the element by using that, same goes for Water and Earthbending, so stop teasing me!" he hissed, warning her sister for making any more teasingly statements.

"Alright, alright. Don't act so paranoid" she said, knowing her brothers short temper. "C'mon, show your sister some Avatar moves"

He hesitated for a moment, examining the Princess for any 'lies' but he couldn't find anything effective printed on Azula's face for him to think she's plotting something.

"Fine, but don't do anything stupid" he warned.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

The young Avatar decided it was best to demonstrate his moves at the Royal Palace. He wasn't pleased with all the crowds cheering for him, he wanted some silence. And the best place for that was home.

So the siblings stood in the backyard near the puddle he and his mother used to feed the Turtle ducks, and after the official announcement of him being the Avatar, it was Azula who replaced his seat next to his mother. Since he had to learn a things or two about being the Avatar, almost having no time to be around her..

Sometimes, he got jealous of Azula taking his place. But then again, he gained his Fathers attention. It was all kinda messed up.

Zuko started with some basic firebending, the element he grew up with. _Breath in.. breath out. _He took a stance and fire unleashed itself from his feet as he kicked them in a circular motion, making the fire whirl around the Prince.

"Impressive.." Azula said and paused."But I gotta say; that was a lie. Even I can do that _– _I meant some Airbending, Earthbending and Waterbending dumdum. You told me you were going to show me one day."

What she said was actually _true_, the siblings were often separated from each other. So she'd never seen him practice other elements; not that he was experienced. In fact, he did worse at learning the other elements. But the only thing he could do was learning from scrolls, but what he needed were real masters.

"I'll try some Waterbending" Zuko, who stood before the puddle with Turtle ducks dropped his hands and kept them in level with his chest. He concentrated himself on the water below, the water rippled slowly and Azula studied his brother, the Avatar confidently while standing next to him.

Slowly but steadily, an orb of water circulated around the Avatars hand and followed its motion. "Well, what do you think?" Zuko asked with a smile printed on the Princes' face.

"_That_, is something I'll never be able to do" Azula admitted, but immediately shrugged off the compliment. "though I'd say it was poorly made. The water you pulled up wriggled in all directions"

"I know. I only know the basics and that's it" Zuko answered. "maybe, If I had a real Master.. instead of these scrolls_–_"

"treasonous " Azula crooned as she allowed herself skipping around her older brother.

Zuko ran his hands through his hair with a miserable sigh. "I know, but still.."

Inside of him, thing started becoming confusing for the Avatar. If one day he would be fighting for his Nation as the Avatar..then how would he be able to learn all elements without having a Master who can teach him?

* * *

**Four Years Later..**

* * *

_"..Zuko? Is that you?"_

_**"I can't believe this.. leave my mind already!" **_ _"I won't. Besides.. I don't even know how I'm supposed to do that"_

_**"Why not?"**_

_"I want to help you"_

_**"You'll help me by leaving me alone"**_

_"That's not gonna work. I'm serous, Zuko.. Avatar Zuko. The whole world knows of your existence, they need you"_

_**"..What? Since when?"**_

_"That's not important.. But I want to promise you something"_

_**"And what might that be"**_

_"I promise, within a few days, we will see each other. And I will help you"_

_**"I don't need any help ****– Wait, are you going to look for me?"**_

_"Yes, I want to teach you the right way an Avatar is supposed to behave"_

_**"So you're saying I'm doing it wrong?"**_

_"It's not that. You were being taught the wrong way. The way you think an Avatar is supposed to act is wrong"_

_**"You don't know anything about it!"**_

...

Seventeen-year old Zuko stood alone on the balcony of his room. This time, he had been 'dreaming' while looking over the city.. Fear surged through the boy for no logical reason. He didn't understand why he felt this way. But what he did know was that the Water Tribe girl started getting pretty annoying in his head. It had been the third time. The Avatar had to admit though, the girls voice sounded more mature than the one he heard four years ago.. well, same goes for his voice of course.

Zuko slowly placed his hand upon his left eye. A nasty scar was formed there. Permanent..

For a moment, Zuko thought about the day he got that scar. His father dueled him to an Agni Kai during his first War Meeting. He spoke up when it wasn't his place to speak. And that he had shown weakness.. As the Avatar, Father told him; he had to fight for his Father and Nation _alone_.. not to stand up for those who are involved in the conspiracy in which they'd be sacrificed for their Nation.

So his Father, Fire Lord Ozai had to learn him a lesson or two about being an Avatar.. He dueled him, but Zuko was frightened.. he didn't wanted to fight his Father..

He managed to pull a block of rock from the ground to defend himself for his Fathers' fire bending attacks. But he hadn't had in him to fight his father with fire. Nor the other elements, which he started to get a grip on, even though he had no Master. But in the end.. he refused to fight, which resulted into a bad scar his Father gave him.

After that.. he had to learn being Avatar the hard way. Zuko bit on his lip and refused to think of what his Father probably thought of him; weak and pathetic, even for an Avatar. There was a time he finally thought he'd gained his Fathers acceptance, once he found out he was the Avatar. Guess he was wrong after all..

He was still confused about the fact that Father was angry at him speaking against a plan in which they sacrificed their own people, while he had said it was his duty as the Avatar to protect his Nation and the citizens living in it. Of course, he never had it in him to ask about it. Another scar was the last thing he wanted.

The Princely Avatar paused as he browsed through the old memory – no, he refused to even think about it – he tried to seal that part of his memories away along with the memories of his Mother..

"Prince Zuko" One of the many servants called out, bowing immediately at seeing the Avatar turning to the servant. "The Fire Lord urgently asked for your presence" she claimed, bowing one more time before leaving his room.

Zuko frowned deeply, wondering what it was his Father had to say.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

The Avatar had his chest pressed against the ground, having his body in a deepened bow before the platform with the throne where his Father, Fire Lord Ozai was sitting stock-still on his place as he looked carefully at his first-born son.

"I have an urgent task I want you _and_ your sister to attend"

Zuko kept quiet and waited for his Father to finish it. Though, he had to admit he got surprised when Father mentioned; task. To be honest, he'd never been on a real mission before. Sure, there was a time he, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee had been doing a made-up mission in which they had to look for a rare hairpiece which resided outside the Palace. He remembered his sister getting the hairpiece as the first one, but the owner of the hairpiece got pretty mad at her, though, once having recognized it was Princess Azula, he immediately let her go, not trying to ruin his title as the owner of a luxurious and rare hairpiece by tormenting the Princess thus her family.

He shook away those thoughts and looked up to see Fire Lord Ozai's shape behind the long brightened fire.

"..A day ago, in the middle of the ocean not too far from our Nation, witnesses claimed to have seen a.. rather odd creature carrying infants who do not belong here. We have called upon our military to confront them, and _end _them" he paused, taking another slow breath. "today, you will be tested as the Avatar. You, along with your sister will cooperate and lead this mission to wipe those intruders out. Do not disappoint me **this time**, my son" his tone went stricter when the Fire Lord said 'this time' recalling Zuko's contradiction in the past.

Zuko remained quiet for a moment. "..Yes Father, I won't disappoint you" he said deepening his bow one more time before standing up and leaving the room to find his sister.

Ozai narrowed his eyes fiercely at his son as he watched him leaving. Preparing for what will become of the boy.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Avatar Zuko stood upon the barren landscape, near the inches long cliffs which was spread in front of the royals and the military. Beneath the cliffs was all water. And now, those intruders were flying into their direction, if the Fire Navy gave them the right coordinations.

He turned to Azula and asked if she talked to their father as well, right before they departed. They weren't brought together, which the firebender found odd.

"Yes he did" Azula confessed narrowing her eyes over the large meadow that belonged to a Fire Nation farmer. "he told me some _pleasant _matters, nothing really important"

Zuko arched an eyebrow but decided not to ask further. He had to stay alert, he was the Avatar after all. He had to protect his Nation.

"Are those intruders really flying?" Zuko asked abruptly, wondering if such a thing excited.

"Well, from what I've heard it was a white big flying creature carrying peasants, not much to worry about, brother" Azula said supporting her 'beloved' brother by placing a hand on his shoulder.

Zuko sighed – actual fear rushed through him – this was _his_ task. Was he going to kill those intruders? Whoever they were..

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

"Katara" Sokka began, not looking over to his sister but downwards. They just crossed the blockade made by the Fire Navy. Now, they were official in enemy territory."I know you were being right about the Avatar being alive after all, but don't you think this is _insane_?" his brows furrowed intensly.

"You could have stayed home, I wasn't asking you to come with me, remember?" Katara said narrowing her eyes straight forward, hoping to see the landscape.

"I know. But you're still my sister and I can't let you go alone leaving our home to set out and travel the world because of your weird dreams about voices and this Avatar you mentioned a few times. Let alone traveling to the **Fire Nation**" Sokka stated as he felt a girl scrambling over to him.

It was the blind girl Toph, who they'd met along the way. She was an Earthbender, and a very special one. They became good friends and she agreed to help them find the Avatar and being part of saving this world.

"Are we there yet? My feet need fresh soil! It's been what – days?" the blind girl mumbled, staring blankness ahead of her. Clinging at Sokka's clothes.

Katara stayed silent for a while, letting the wind carry her long hair. Then, she turned her head into the direction of an.. Airbender. "Aang, do you know when we will hit the shores?" she asked.

Aang sat on the creatures' head, which was actually a Flying Bison. His name was Appa. "I'm not sure, Katara. But we're not too far away now"

Katara nodded satisfied by his answer before she turned back to meet his brothers' eyes.

"We are inside enemy territory now so no matter what happens, we need to stick together, all of us" Sokka exclaimed carefully.

"So what's the plan, boss?" Toph inquired, still laying motionless against Sokka.

"It's actually simple, but not simple at all" Katara's brother stated, frowning as he said those words. "we just have to find this Avatar Katara keeps talking about and get him with us. But we have to deal with some nuisances.. There are most likely Fire Nation soldiers waiting for us right now. And the other thing are those rumors of the Avatar being the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, which just doesn't match the picture I would've imagine" Sokka recalled, finding it somewhat hard to believe the good-loving-peace-making Avatar is the one who is supposed to be the actual future ruler of that same nation that killed thousands of innocent people.

Katara nodded at him. She was certain the Avatar was none other than Crown Prince Zuko, as she remembered from her 'dreams'.

Aang, who jumped up, dropped the reins that were connected to Appa and used his airbending to land gently on the saddle the boys' friends were on. "Remember Katara. We're doing this for you, we trust you with our lives"

Katara nodded knowingly. "Thanks, Aang, Sokka, Toph.. You're guys the best" The Waterbender smiled gently.

She was happy to have such friends around. Sokka.. for still believing in her although he doesn't seem to be interested in the Fire Nation's Avatar. Toph, for telling her not to give up.. in her way of course. And Aang, for being her only way to travel the world and find the Avatar ever since she found him in the Ice Berg.. along with the previous Avatar, Kyoshi..

Suddenly, Appa groaned softly, but in an alerting way. This got all of their attention as they looked over the saddle to see coastline of The Fire Nation. Wondering whether it was a good thing or a bad thing to see such a thing, Sokka looked over his shoulder to see Aang climbing onto Appa. The airbenders' eyes grew wide as he looked in the distance. Struggling to maintain a calm and diplomatic veneer, Aang said, "We've got a problem.." he swallowed harshly. "they know we're here.. a whole group of Fire Nation military.. and they're here for us"

The young teenagers exchanged worrying looks.

"There's no way back now"

"Oh, there is. If we go back now, not only will this spare you guys' life's, but we also don't need to fight some Fire Loser military" Toph explained not very caring about it though. She just wanted to get to the point here.

At this, Katara shot her a dead-glare, though, knowing Toph, she wasn't aware of this.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Avatar Zuko looked upwards, in the far distance, he could see a blurry white creature. _This must've been the one everyone keeps talking about. _he pondered knowingly. The Fire Nation military, who were standing behind Zuko and Azula under the orders of the two royal siblings, stood upright in position as they looked at the Bison.

Somehow Zuko's heart started trembling faster as he saw the creature approaching. Though, he didn't know why. He figured it must've been due to his first task given by his Father. But.. what if that wasn't the case? What if.. someone important was on there.. – Zuko immediately shook off that thought. It was absurd and didn't make any sense. The Fire Nation Prince told himself.

"Men, our special guests have arrived" Azula snorted mockingly, once she recognized the creature _and_ a bald boy sitting on the top of its head.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

_Flames. _Large balls of fire angrily soared through the sky, flying right at Appa with everyone the Bison carried with him. The Gaang were now flying above ground. Soaring their way over the military. Aang leaped up and took a very deep breath, followed by a heavy windflaw. This caused many Fire Nation soldiers to be blown backwards, many were also taken aback by the airbender. They were all supposed to be extinct..

"What's happening!" Toph cried, her expression was anything but pleased. The saddle on which they were, quickly began moving up and back down due to the ruthless firebenders. She felt herself slipping to the back of the saddle.

"Toph!" Katara yelled.

The earthbender knocked her head against the side of the saddle and growled briefly in pain before soaring through the sky. But it was Katara who crawled quickly at Toph and caught her hand just in time. "don't let go!"

"I'm trying!"

Katara hung over the saddle. Her eyes widened as she saw Toph looking actually scared and at seeing the group of Fire Military staring at them, in fight stance.

"Katara! Toph!" Sokka called behind the pair. Aang, who recognized their agony cries, couldn't do anything in the position he was in right now. He tried quench fire the enemies were hurling at them.

Katara felt Sokka grabbing onto her. He was trying to pull her up, along with Toph. It was then that she recognized two figures standing next to each other, looking up. It was still blurry to see, but Katara recognized one of the figures.. even though she never had seen that person in real..

_It's him.._

Every time she thought of seeing the Avatar in reality, her stomach pitched and rolled. Sometimes with hope and other times with apprehension. She did thought this trough, Katara was sure of that. She obviously had years to plan this scenario, but she didn't knew the firebender as much as she wanted to.

Still being locked in pure thought, Sokka managed to pull her up. "Are you two alright?" he replied.

Toph took a few breaths before nodding in appreciation. "Thanks"

"I saw him" Katara said as she looked ahead of her, seeming deep in thought.

This got Sokka and Toph's attention, though it would've gotten Aang's as well if he weren't blocking the assails. "What do you mean?" Sokka questioned, growing more alarmed with the unfolding drama around them.

"I saw him.. I saw the Avatar!"

"Are you sure?" Sokka fixed her sister a questioned eye. Thinking it was going to take days before they would reach and find the Avatar, now however, it seemed like they have reached their final objective faster than expected. If Katara was indeed right; he surely was glad the Avatar welcomed them with total kindliness.._ Yeah, right._

Rather than answering Sokka's questioned, Katara said. "We need to land somewhere safe" she turned her head into the airbenders direction a called his name, "Aang! "

Aang acknowledged this and nodded. "Got it. Gimme a minute" he said as he gently but quickly raised his arms and let go another gust as the firebenders fiercely attacked them, without remorse.

After having finished his final blow, Aang quickly crawl onto Appa and clenched his grip around the reins. "hold on tight!" the airbender yelled before making a sharp fall downwards. Gritting his teeth firmly as they descended. He could hear the faint cries of his friends. He sighed heavily, still descending momentum. Until his eyes set in the far distance.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

"An airbender?" Zuko whispered slowly, somewhat shocked. He looked to his side to see his sister mumbling 'impossible'. He regained his alertness and ordered his men to attack them. Azula turned to him and said, "seems like father was right after all" the Avatar's younger sisters' voice trilled into a humming smile.

As the firebenders obeyed the Avatars' command and attacked the Bison with the intruders on board, he turned his gaze confusingly towards Azula. "what do you mean, father was right after all?" he repeated, but in a questioning way.

"He had a hunch about the airbenders still being alive" she started. _After all that was the very reason he didn't kill or imprison Zuko in the first place, that was when we were little of course. _She thought bitterly. "but it doesn't matter. We just need to capture that little airbender brat and his friends so we can give them the judgment they deserve"

Prince Zuko nodded knowingly. Suddenly, a blurry greenish girl fell out of the saddle and got caught by another girl who leaned over the saddle just to hold onto her friend. She looked rather blue-ish.. and familiar.. somehow.. sadly, his vision was lessened due to his scar given by his Father.

Then, he locked his gaze toward the airbender and took a stance. The Prince squeezed his hands until flames surrounded them, he fiercely pushed one of his arms forward in the airbenders direction. The bald boy noticed his fireball and unleashed a final blow. Both royals got blown backwards along with some other military. That boy was certainly stronger than he looked like.

As they looked up; the Prince could see them dropping towards the ground, seeming to search for a place to land. He didn't know why they weren't going to land when it was pretty obvious they wanted them dead. It seemed more logical for them to surrender and fly away while they could. Not that he cared, this way, he could finish his task without having to worry about his Fathers' disappointing thoughts about him.

Azula rose up and turned to the other soldiers. Some were lying torn around the ground. While some just stared and waited for the Prince or Princess to give them another order. Azula managed to keep calm, but still got pretty bold in the inside. "What are you lethargic creatures waiting for? Get them!" Azula snarled at her men.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

"Well here you have it Toph, fresh Fire Nation soil" Sokka managed to joke in this situation they were in.

"It's about time" Toph said smiling in relieve, stretching her arms. Her feet told her about the danger approaching the Gaang. "things doesn't seem to be working out. Lemme help" the young earthbender told them. Toph took a solid stance and lifted the ground right before them in a circular motion, making a very long bunker circled around them.

"Way to go Toph!" Sokka said excited, never doubting her friends' talent. "now all we need to do is get the Avatar Prince guy"

"How are we going to do that? Are you sure he'll be willing to come with us if we ask?" Aang asked as he peeked through a hole Toph created. He could see the firebenders approaching.

"I will talk to him" Katara stated softly. " I'm sure he knows who I am" her blue eyes tingled with hope as she said that.

It went quiet for a minute and Sokka had the urge to spat to her sister; _you've never met him! _But knowing her sister, she'd probably shot her answer as double heartless back then he did.

Katara reached towards a small bag she carried with her. She opened it and tuck her hands it, "You know what this is, right?" she took out a yellowish metal fan. "Yeah" Aang replied as he fixed his eyes at the object. "Of course I know, I gave it to you. It was one of the two weapons Kyoshi used. She even bended using it"

Katara nodded smiling. "If it was important to her; don't you think this would seem familiar to him?"

"Maybe.. but do _you_ think it works?" Aang asked giving Katara a shrug.

"We'll find out soon enough" Toph murmured beneath her breath. She knelt down and placed her hand on the barren ground. "they've seized us"

"We can't sit here all day. We need to do something. Katara, can you look through the small hole and see if you can spot the guy?"

Katara nodded. Aang took a step to his left to make a way free for Katara. The waterbender peeked through the hole and her eyed around her. Just at that moment, a large fireball shot at the high wall she peeked through, making her jerk back before her eye gets toasted. Her hands trembled for a minute. And she could feel Sokka grabbing onto her. Katara reared quickly back from him and resumed her action. Her eyes gazed to the left until.. "I see him" she whispered.

"What does he look like?" Aang asked out of curiosity.

"The one standing next to the girl, wearing royal outfits. He has a scar on his face" Katara answered. Never haven told Aang anything about the appearance of the Avatar.

Sokka practically shoved Katara out of the way, making Katara pulling up a face at him. He peeked through the hole and noticed the boy, having crossed his arms as he glared at the height of the wall. "That guy's the Avatar? He looks pretty messed up" if they were to be going to convince such a person to come and join them; this certainly wouldn't be the easiest thing they would ever come across.

"That's because he's confused" Katara whispered.

"Wow, you're right. He _is _confused" Toph said as he could feel the Princes' heartbeat, even from inches away.

That did it. Toph's clarification told her everything she needed to know. Her dream was true and the young Avatar.. Zuko needed to be brought back on the right path. And if nobody on this world wanted to do this; then she was the one who would. "Toph, can you make a underground hole where I can pass through?" Katara insisted, trying to hold as much calmness in her voice as possible.

"Katara! You can't, we need to stick together. It's way too dangerous" Sokka said alarmed, grabbing his sisters' arm out of concern.

"Thanks, but I'm doing fine Sokka. I need to do this" she broke his hand away from her."I'm a waterbender after all" Katara opened her bottle with water. "we're near the ocean here, so technically I'm having the advantage here"

Sokka bit his lips. Katara probably wasn't aware of the fact that about twenty military gathered around them, how was she going to defeat them? He knew the very reason they went here was because of Katara's selfish wishes.

"If I'm going after Zuko, will you guys try and split me and the Avatar from the Fire Nation military?" Katara asked.

"No problem, Sugar Queen" Toph fixed her a mischievous smile. "It's been a while since I kicked some Fire Nation butt"

"Thanks.. guys"

"Guess this is it" Aang said while biting his lip. "be careful Katara"

The waterbender stayed silent for a while, until they all embraced each other. A final embrace. This was it. This was everything they traveled for. Katara broke from the others and gave them a final smile before crawling into the hole Toph made her. Sokka sighed one time before turning to his other two companions. "We won't lose this fight. Aang, I want you to attack them from above. Use airbending to sweep away their attacks. Toph, you can attack them from here, using your earthbending to attack them from beneath. This way, we face them without having the worry of having to see them face to face" Sokka suggested.

"And what are you gonna do, sir?" Toph asked.

"I'll figure out something.. for now, I'll be giving the commands here" Sokka declared, making Aang and Toph exchange glances before nodding firmly.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Katara crawled over to the end of the tunnel. She knew she was no longer safe once she crawled further. She pulled the last couple of stones away. The bright light of the sun was glowing burningly against her face. She tucked her head upwards to see she was now a few yards behind the fire benders. They didn't seem to have recognized her.

She could see Aang standing on the top of the bunker, his gently eyes seemed to have changed in a sorrowful glare as his eyes fixed on Zuko, who in return gave him a dead-glare. As the other firebenders seemed to be trying to get their way through the outer wall, the earthbender managed to smack some militaries aback, some even wondered where the earthbending came from. Others even glanced to their Prince who shook aggressive his head, not being the one who caused those attacks.

Katara now crawled out of the hole. She had to think of something before one of the soldiers noticed her. She looked behind her to see she was not far from the edge of the cliff. Beneath her was all water, so if she could use it.. suddenly an idea stuck her. She opted for fast action.

Katara turned around and shifted her arms in a circular motion, the water of the ocean quickly followed her and floated around the Master waterbender. Ever since she had taken lessons from Master Paku in the Northern Water Tribe, she'd gotten a pretty good one. Of course, she couldn't have those lessons without difficult issues.

The waterbender regained her thought and hurled the water quickly backwards into the direction of Zuko, who was still attacking the airbender and dodging the unfamiliar earthbending attacks coming out of nowhere alongside Azula who seemed to be locking eyes with the wall, trying to figure out how to get in there. Katara thought while aiming for the Avatars' feet.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Zuko liberated his fire, a small blast of flames erupted from his fist as he launched them toward the airbender. Then, once the airbender avoided the attack, the airbenders eyes seemed to be glancing the otherway, widening in an understanding way.

The Fire Prince followed the airbenders' gaze, eyes widening in shock as he noticed the ambush from behind. Water was being hurled towards him in fast speed. Never had he seen waterbending in such a speed. The water got being swapped around Zuko's feet, and was being locked there. He couldn't move, no matter how much he tried. "What–" he couldn't finish, instead he got smacked against the ground as he felt someone pulling onto the water, pulling him along.

"Now!" Aang cried.

Toph knew this was her screen time and sank to her knees, she took a deep stance, lifting another wall of earth. This time to separate the soldiers and the Fire Nation Princess from the Avatar.

"Prince Zuko!" many soldiers cried all at once, seeing their Prince, the Avatar being pulled away from them. Until a large pile of earth blocked their way of vision.

"Oh, I get it now" Finally understanding the meaning behind their arrival provoked a mischievous smile from the Princess.

Zuko dramatically tried to find a grip somewhere as he was dragged across the ground. But the water was too overwhelming.

The Prince grunted for a brief moment as he tried to get to his feet. Zuko queered in alarm his head to his left, to find out he was just a few inches away from the edge of the cliff. His eyes then shifted to his feet on which the sudden water clung onto.

_It was gone.._

Well the water was still there, but it was more like a puddle of water, as if the hardened grip had loosened itself. Wondering what caused him being dragged away; he looked quickly around him.. to find a girl standing there. A familiar girl..

"You.." Zuko whispered. "what are you doing here" it was more an order than a question.

Blue eyes, long brownish hair and a waterbender.. he was sure of it. This was the girl from his 'dreams'. The girls' eyes seemed to glisten with a mix of sadness and happiness. Whatever the girl was thinking right now, he didn't like it.

"Zuko" The girl said faking a smile, the Prince thought. "I promised you didn't I? I would come and see you, and get you with us"

"Do you honestly think I would come with you!" Zuko sneered back. He didn't liked the kindness coming from this girl. Well, he knew this was supposed to be his way of acting. But maybe, there was a glint of gladness inside him. The Prince immediately shook off that thought and turned to meet the girls' eyes.

The waterbenders' face went serious as she met with his golden eyes. "It had not been easy to travel around the world only to find you. There is a good reason behind all of this, we aren't here to invade you nation.. we are here for _you_"

_How benevolent of her._ Zuko thought. So she and her group traveled all around the world.. just to find him? Someone has been searching for him.. for _him_.. and it was the girl right in front of her who organized the whole plan. This woman.. Katara, he remembered, she wanted peace? But It wasn't like the whole world was being destroyed , right? "We are just making our nation great. What would you gain by making peace? There's peace enough!"

"Have you ever been outside the Fire Nation? Have you ever seen what it looked like to live inside both Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe?" Katara whispered, she let her arms sliding down her hips. Not in any fight position. The waterbender decided to use words, instead of power. "My mother has been killed by Fire Nation soldiers.. my friend is the only one left of his own people ever since Fire Lord Sozin wiped out his people. We've been visiting families and most of them have lost at least one family member to the war. A war the _Avatar _needs to prevent"

Zuko didn't know why, but he felt his eyes widening a bit. He didn't knew this. The Fire Nation did such a thing? Why didn't he ever known about this? He was the Fire Prince, the Avatar. He should've known this.. unless she was lying. It was impossible, Father or Azula would've told him about this if it were true.

"You're lying. There Fire Nation never does such a thing!"

"What have they told you they were doing outside your nation?" Katara asked.

"I don't know – something about patrols for the good of our nation" Zuko said as he observed the girl in front of him with narrowed eyes.

"Then, why are they sending so many soldiers?"

"The Earth Kingdom is very large" he replied with absolute conviction.

It remained quiet, the firebender and waterbender stared at each other and waited for one to talk. Seeing the girl not replying the Prince said, "I'm not going with you. But if you really want me; you have to knock me out in a duel"

The waterbenders' face darkened. "Then I will do just that" Katara said as he bit her lip. She tried to sound calm but she felt nervous. Fighting the Avatar was a dangerous thing, especially as he was also the Fire Prince.

Both took their battle stance, Katara surrounded her hands with water she whipped out of the ocean while Zuko's were surrounded by blazing fire.

Zuko leaped up and punched two large fireballs at Katara, one from each fist. Katara rolled to her left and managed to avoid the attacks, the water followed her. She quickly sprung up and lingered the stream of water right at the Avatar. Zuko quickly extinguished his fire and caught the water the Water Tribe girl hurled at him. Katara looked surprised up to see the firebender holding her water.

_So he does know how to waterbend.._

Zuko hurled the attack back at her, making Katara fly backwards. It wasn't as strong as she thought the attack would be though. She rolled closer to the edge of the cliff but stopped herself when noticing she neared the end. She scrambled back to her feet and took a few deep breaths, looking at Zuko with a serious but uncertain expression. Katara decided to use another method and decided to go for a quick attack.

Just as Katara launched an orb of water right at the firebender. Zuko also, unleashed a brightened flame. As the two bending elements collided, a huge steam followed making it pretty unclear to see what was going on.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

"Toph, how many of those firebender have you hit so far" Sokka asked as he ran somewhat circles, giving the air and earthbender commands on what to do.

"Enough to get ourselves to safety" Toph replied smugly, pressing her hands against the wall to harden it. "we need to get to Katara, I can feel she's having problems"

This, got Sokka's attention as he turned to the blind girl. "Is she in danger?" Sokka asked alarmed.

"Not quite.." Toph dumbly said. Then, she felt a vibration through the ground like somebody got pushed backwards. She could feel the shuddering effects and a fastened heartbeat. "okay, maybe she is"

Sokka felt an intense desire to crawl into that very same hole Katara did and smack some sense into the Avatar for trying to kill her sister. He sighed depressing, knowing he had other things to worry about right now.

"Don't worry, Sokka. I'll go after them" Aang suggested, who still exchanged glances with the Fire Nation Princess'. He folded out his staff as it changed into a glider. He held a firmly grip and flew over the wall that separated the Prince and Princess.

"..Okay, Toph we're the only ones left to defend the others"

"You mean_ I _am the only one" Toph reminded.

"Hey, _I'm_ giving the orders here. So technically I'm helping too" Sokka said dumbstruck.

"Aye sir" The earthbender said sarcastically.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

The bald airbender looked ahead of him. He was being able to see the two benders facing each other. Katara was shot down to the ground, being hurt. He could see his friend was trying to get to her knees.

"Katara! Are you alright?" he cried as he flew towards the girl, once descended he withdraw his staff and helped to get the girl rise.

"I'm fine, Aang" Katara said as she leaned on Aang. She blinked a few times before whispering, "we need to knock him out, can you help me?"

The random fact of knocking the Avatar unconscious took Aang by surprise. He composed himself and asked in a whispering way, "Why do you want to do that?" not wanting the Prince hear them

"He doesn't listen to us, it's the only plan I have in mind.."

Before Aang answered, he made sure his voice sounded calmer and assurance. "We could do it the gentle way, I mean – he'll never listen to us if we knock him unconscious like that"

Katara let go a heavy sigh. He was right.. hit him unconscious wouldn't do a very good thing to Zuko's image. She had to do this somehow in another way..

Katara's eyes widened as she was thinking of a resolution. Then, a sudden reminder shot through the waterbenders' brains. He was being lied to, and he wasn't aware of that.. now if they could make him hear the truth from none other than his own allies..

"Quit whispering to each other" Zuko who stood in the opposite direction of the pair glared heavily at them, you could say a dead-glare. The firebender took a fight stance and locked eyes with both airbender and waterbender. Not knowing on who he should lock eyes with; he shifted them to one another.

"I'm asking you a favor" Katara asked all of a sudden as she stepped forward. Zuko arced a brow as he watched the girl from his dreams. "I want to proof our right about the Fire Nations' attacks"

The trio faltered off into silence. Zuko blinked a few times, he wanted to be sure. "And how exactly are you going to do that?" he asked bitterly.

"Follow us inside the bunker and hear what your sister says about all of this" This was the part in which he needed to trust them. Katara thought. She wondered if he would actually go on with this and actually follow them. She bit her lip slowly and hoped..

The Prince paused a moment before kicking at a hard rock in conflict with himself, making the other two look up in surprise.

Zuko always wondered.. his sister was always full of surprises. She was a difficult person to read, mostly because of her calmness. That's why so many people fear her. The only thing she actually got attached to was their mother right before she disappeared. But that was a long time ago.. Inside, Zuko gritted his teeth. What if Azula.. and.. Father.. have been keeping secrets from him? Not that he ever wanted to think of such a thing, but then again, he never heard things from outside his Nation. Yes.. It was his duty as the Avatar to stay inside the Fire Nation and protect it all cost..

"..Alright" he said defeated. An excited expression formed it's way on both Aang and Katara's faces as they exchanged glances. Though, Zuko soon narrowed his eyes again. "but if you two are lying.. I'll make sure you won't get out of here alive" he hissed.

The pair nodded knowingly. "Thank you, Zuko. Follow us" Katara said as her gentle smile didn't fade. Zuko had a minute or two to remember that same smile she once held in a dream he had. He shuddered his head and followed the pair from behind. Going on his knees as he crawled into the tiny hole.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

"Sokka!" Katara warmly cried. The non-bender turned around to see his sister smiling. The boy returned the smile as he cried his name and embraced her gently, glad to see her still alive. Then, he saw the scarred boy and his face went from a darkened expression to a somewhat confused expression. Knowing he was the very reason they came here; he still found it uncomfortable to be locked in the same bunker the Fire Prince was in. "You're.."

"I'm Zuko" The Avatar interjected . Zuko's eyes glanced over to another girl who seemed to be bending earth from inside this bunked. At least he knew who caused the earthbending attacks from earlier. "so, are you going to proof me or what?" he asked bitterly, looking back at Katara.

"Proof you what?" Toph said as she approached the group. Having knocked out a lot of Fire Nation soldiers, she knew it was quite safe to stalk the defend-earthbending.

Katara nodded understanding. She turned to Aang and her face darkened. "Aang, it's pretty dangerous but you know what to do right?"

Aang nodded knowingly. The bald boy took a high jump and reached its way over the bunker making Zuko wonder what they were up to, what Azula was up to. He hadn't heard of anything she had done so far ever since he got dragged by Katara.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Aang's eyes shifted around him as he landed on the bare ground. Many soldiers had fallen and less than four were still left in the fight.. including the Princess. The only thing she had done so far was watching, smiling, ordering her men, smiling, watching… yeah and smiling.

Aang lifted his staff and went into fight position.

Azula clapped in her hands, in a mocking way. Her vicious smile remained as she watched the Air Nomad carefully stepping forward.

"My name is Aang and I'm the last airbender"

"Really. Would you believe it if I said I'm honored to be in your presence?" Azula asked while crossing her arms steadily. The remained men stood where they were and watched the conversation and meanwhile waiting for their Princess to give the orders.

"I'm not sure. But I guess you aren't" Aang said.

"Good. You were right, I'm not" Out of the blue fire emerged from Azula's fists, blue fire. She swing her hands around, blasting the fierce fire right at the airbender, who managed to avoid the attack by leaping up.

Aang created an air scooter and avoided a stream of blue fire Azula created right after her first attack. The remaining soldiers stayed where they stood, hoping to get an order from the Princess which they didn't get. Aang quickly dismissed his air scooter underneath his feet, gently landing on his feet as he locked eyes with Azula. "Why are all of you keeping the distortion of balance in the world a secret from the Avatar?"

Azula sighed dumbly before setting up her vicious smile again, she folded her hands and said, "So you and your peasant friends came here for my dear brother? What a surprise. I'm sure Father would be pleased to take care of all of you. Just like the others who tried to get to Zuzu" she narrowed her eyes at the airbender.

"I wasn't planning on getting myself caught today, nor are my friends" Aang stated firmly, he had to get a bit more specific now, the Princess before him wasn't getting straight to the point, which didn't amused the airbender.

"What you and your Nation are doing is _wrong_. People are getting killed and families are getting separated. Also, you're keeping the one who's supposed to be bringing peace to the world locked within his own nation"

"So what?" she seemed a bit emotionless in a way, but still held that mischievous smirk on her royal face.

"So.. why?"

Azula laughed remarkably. "Isn't that obvious? My Father locked my poor Brother in here so that he'd never acknowledged the condition outside our Nation. Don't think you're the first one who tried to get to Zuzu. There've been plenty of Earth and Water Tribe rebels trying to get to my brother, but all were imprisoned.. or had to pay with their life for it" she smirked.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

Zuko sank to his knees. _This.. no, this couldn't be true. _Behind him, he could feel someone lowering down, placing a hand on his shoulder for support. It was Katara. "It's alright.. now, you've heard the truth from your sister" Katara whispered quietly.

"..It's not alright" Zuko shook his head. He felt the urge to cry and smash something, he felt betrayed… betrayed by his own Sister.. and Father. How did it ever come this far? Had they really been locking him up at his own home without him being aware of it? Zuko's arms trilled as he placed them on the ground.

_'Father locked my poor brother in here so that he'd never acknowledged the condition outside our Nation'_

_'There've been plenty of Earth and Water Tribe rebels trying to get to my brother, but all were imprisoned.. or had to pay with their life for it'_

He looked up, with furious expression as he glared at the wall before him. He rose slowly up, shaken.

Before anyone had time to answer, however, Zuko quickly stepped back in frustration and disbelieve, he took a stance and pushed his arms backwards followed by a fast movement forward, his hands trilled in betrayal. The wall before them cracker open followed by a suppressing explosion. He could hear the faint cries of Katara and the others, but he didn't listen. He ran forward to meet up with his sister.

"You lied to me!" Zuko sneered as he felt his blood boiling up inside, ready to strike anyone around him.

A glint of surprise gleamed in Azula's eyes as she saw Zuko tearing the wall apart, but she easily hid it underneath her tranquil expression. Her eyes narrowed back to the airbender, who smiled in a victorious way. "So, this was all part of your pathetic plan, wasn't it?"

Zuko cut in. "**Answer me, Azula!**" the Avatar shrieked. "Why haven't you ever told me? And what about Father?" he felt torn apart, angry and devastated.

"Zuko" Azula smirked while shifting her head to her side in an amusing tone. "Do you really think Father cares about you? He told me you were a misfortune.. he never actually **cared **about you"

"No.. Y-You're **wrong**!"

Katara, Sokka and Toph ran through the opening Avatar Zuko created and surrounded themselves around the airbender, who stood a few inches away from Zuko. Katara blinked a few times, the Avatar was really furious, it seemed, she could feel some weird energy coming from the guy.. and it started to get heavier by the second. Then, she saw what was happening.

Zuko fisted his hands. So the waterbender was right.. she was right after all. He felt completely lost, his mind grumbled with fury, grief and shock. Not caring what would happen to him anymore, his sight went _blank_..

Katara's eyes met with the firebenders', which were no longer gold.. but glowed with intense feelings. A strong whirlwind raged on and Sokka made sure to get everyone to the ground, saying it was too dangerous. Zuko launched of the ground and as Katara looked over to Azula, she saw her and her men doing the same thing, though, she kept alert, knowing her brother probably aimed for her.

Suddenly, out of the blue, the weather turned darker. Clouds covered the sunny sky and raindrops started to fall down. The ocean water drifted forcefully back and forth, seeming to be affected by with Zuko's condition.

_'I can't let this happen..'_

This was the Avatar State he was in, she heard stories from Aang about Avatar Kyoshi, who mastered the Avatar State. Zuko, not yet a fully realized Avatar, obviously didn't mastered the Avatar State yet, causing him to do things he didn't had control over. This isn't what Zuko wants, at least not the way he wants it. Katara bit her lip, she had to make him stop.

"Katara! What're you doing?" Sokka cried beneath his breath, he looked up to see Katara approaching the young Avatar.

No reply came from the girl, but she quickly took a step back as the ground beneath Zuko seemed to burst open. The Avatar raised his arms as a huge wave of water whipped up and send it towards Azula and her companions. Katara quickly stepped back to her friends, deciding to defend them from the wave of water by bending her own water as shield.

Zuko's heart skipped with at least a dozen frantic beats, his face looked uncontrollable and he seemed to be crying out with chocked emotions. "Calm down, Zuko. It's okay!" Katara cried, but no response came from the boy.

Katara squeezed her eyes. _This isn't going to work, he doesn't listen to a world I say._The waterbender pondered. Behind the young Prince, he could see Azula getting up, she looked quite shocked now, which was a moment of pure gold. Suddenly, out of the blue, the weather turned darker. Clouds covered the sunny sky and raindrops started to fall down. The ocean water drifted forcefully back and forth, seeming to affected by with Zuko's feelings.

Lighting shot out of the sky and crashed right into the hazardous sea. Toph cringed herself tightly against Aang and Sokka who still laid stretched on the ground, looking up at Katara.

Katara's hair fluttered backwards due to the fastened wind and rain, her hair was completely messed up but that was not the thing she cared about at the moment. The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath before carefully approaching Zuko. There were times she felt she almost got blown backwards, but she tried to get up as fast as she could and regain her balance. Nearing the Prince, she could see him floating above her, a big ball of wind circulated around him. Katara saddened, he was a victim of all of this. She understood how he felt.

Tilting her head slightly, she went on her toes to grab Zuko's arm gently. Her face remained calm, not trying to show any sign of anger, astonishment or whatsoever. The Avatar's head quickly shifted to Katara, his angered glowing eyes still there.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you. I know how you feel, you're hurt. Being a victim to the war yourself, just like us.. I know we psychical just met – but I know we were meant to meet each other, and I believe you will bring us harmony.. the whole world needs you, Zuko.. _the whole world_.."

…

Finally, after some time, Zuko's anger dimmed down, the water started to cool slowly, and the clouds floated away. His glowing eyes changed into usual form, but remained closed as he descended to the ground. Once having his feet pressed against the barren ground, he let out a loud groan before passing out.

Katara, who had caught his hand, quickly grabbed him by his royal armor almost making her fall with him. She sat down on her knees, holding the Avatar carefully on her lap. She turned to her brother and made a _'lend me a hand please' _look.

Luckily, Sokka took the next move and ran towards Katara, followed by Aang and Toph. The young airbender looked around and emerged a white whistle in the shape of a Bison from underneath his yellowish monk clothes. He took a deep breath and blew his whistle before reaching the others.

Azula pressed her hands together, blue fire emerging. She locked her gaze with the waterbender peasant who was holding her pathetic unconscious brother and swept both fists forward, releasing a strong stream of fire.

Toph felt the vibration through the ground before the Princess could strike. The earthbender dropped her two feet to the ground and shoved one in a circular motion while pressing her hands forward. She threw one feet upward, making a block of earth coming from the ground before the attack of Azula succeeded. Once the block fell back into the ground Sokka turned to the Fire Princess.

"Why are you attacking your own brother?" Sokka said somewhat in disbelieve.

The Princess remained silence for a while. "You know, I actually spared his life. I could've killed him just there with lighting. But I decided to let him live.. for now" She smirked. Actually, her Father had asked her to end Zuko, that is, If he were to go against his orders. That's why Father asked to speak with her in private. And now, Zuko actually just did, for standing against his own people and sister.. not that she wouldn't dare to stand up against Zuko, she loved to. "Zuzu's just a weakling and misfortune"

"Princess. W-What should we do?" One of the soldiers said, knowing he had to do something when he wasn't being ordered to.

"Quiet! Can't you see I'm busy?" Azula hissed back.

"Yes.. your highness" the man bowed one more time before joining the other few soldiers still conscious.

Zuko slowly opened his eyes, all eyes curiously turning to him. The young Avatar stared wearily into that of the girl who looked at him with a mix of grief and happiness. He then tilted his head to his side, seeing the blurry vision of his sister.. And then, he felt himself getting dizzy..

_"Zuko! Zu… Ko… are… yo…?"_

Everything went black again.

* * *

**xOxOxOxOx**

* * *

As Zuko opened his eyes, Katara found herself staring at the Prince. A gentle smile formed it's way on the waterbenders face. "Welcome back"

Zuko rubbed his tense forehead while trying to get up as he asked. "How long have I been.. out?"

Katara's eyes shifted upward for a brief moment, seeming to think. "About three days. We were scared there for a moment, but I'm glad your back"

Aang who sat between Katara and Toph, smiled at the firebender. "So you're the new Avatar hah? Nice to meet you, my name is Aang!"

Zuko just glowered ahead of him.

"I can feel he's not in the mood right now" Toph whispered beneath her breath as she pressed her hands around the airbenders ears. Aang made a soft _'Ooo' _as reply.

Without saying anything, the firebender stood up and wexited the cave they were in. He wanted to be alone, he wanted to think about what just happened, or well, three days ago. But it felt like it took place minutes ago. He watched over the sea, glistening because of the moon. It seemed like a quiet night. He actually never had seen anything like this, except for his holidays on Ember Island, but that was way too long ago..

He inhaled.. and exhaled.. as he went down on his knees and grabbed a shell. Uncle loved shells, he always collected them, one of each kind. He smiled weakly as he thought about his Uncle. He was in the outside world.. was he too, fighting in the war? Did Uncle know? Did he betrayed him as well..

He wondered though, were they searching for him? It's been three days.. a lot could happen in three days, especially when you are both Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and the Avatar. He glowered down as he watched the moon in the far distance, still holding a shell in his left hand.

"Can I join you?" A voice said.

Zuko turned around to see the Water Tribe girl and remained quiet.

Katara walked forward until she stood next to Zuko. She looked into his eyes for a brief minute before turning her gaze towards the sea."I know I haven't officially proposed myself, so I wanted to do it now" she said and bowed gently. "I'm Katara from the Southern Water Tribe. It's an honor to meet you, Avatar Zuko"

"You don't need to talk with such a manner" Zuko said, "I know I haven't given you a good first impression"

"I have to admit, seeing you so calm like this really got me thinking, you're not bad. Like I said many times before, you just didn't know any better" Katara replied softly.

"So where are we? What happened? And what about my Father and Sister? Have you heard any news about my nation?"

Katara's face saddened for a brief moment, before faking a smile. "Yes, we're still inside Fire Nation territory. Aang managed to call out for Appa. After that we fought off Azula and the other firebenders. Then, we took you with us and decided to hide here until you were awake. We couldn't just leave the Fire Nation without you not knowing anything about it. And ealrier today.. my Brother and Aang visited a nearby village, then, they found out.." she paused, finding it difficult to find the right words.

"They found out – what?" Zuko echoed.

"You're disinherited.. Fire Lord Ozai announced Azula as the new Crown Princess.. and you're being wanted for outright treason.. there's a huge price on your head Zuko.. But the Fire Lord knows the danger he is in right now – because the Avatar is finally back"

"Wait a minute.." Zuko needed time to recollect himself. He didn't know what felt worse; the fact that his father disinherited him, or that he wants to capture his very own son for outright treason he didn't even commit. Then, his eyes widened as he locked eyes with Katara. "are all of you excepting me to _kill _my father?

"We're not asking anything right now" Katara relented, dropping her arm back to her side. "you only need to bring peace to all four Nations. How you do that, doesn't matter"

Bringing peace to all four Nations? What that his duty as Avatar.. He realized, she still expecting her to kill his own Father, how else would he.. – this were getting so depressing for him. He was still a victim to confusing and often wondered what being the right thing to do. But somehow, he felt like he could trust this girl.. she felt special, somehow.

"Thank you, Katara" a faint but rare smile formed it's way on the firebenders lips. Then, he randomly said, "And err, my name is Zuko and as you probably already know.. I'm the Avatar" No longer was he Crown Prince of the Fire Nation.. but just the Avatar..

_Avatar Zuko.. He who would restore balance to the world._

* * *

**The End.**

* * *

_This was really fun to write! It took me some time (a lot of time), but I finished it. I seriously broke my record in writing 15,654 words for this story! There are still misteries left unsaid like how Aang and Avatar Kyoshi got in the iceberg, Katara and Zuko's connection, Uncle Iroh, the fan of Avatar Kyoshi and so on.. I might have been confusing you on that part. But I do have an explanation to that floating somewhere in my mind. Maybe I continue to write another chapter for this story if it gets enough reviews, but for now; thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter/one-shot. __Ok, **please don't forget to review**! I like to hear your opinion. :)  
* I reuploaded this from another acount._


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